Baby Pendragon
by Death By Verbicide
Summary: In an AU where Arthur was never killed during the battle against Morgana, Arthur and Merlin are losing their minds trying to look after his and Gwen's mischievous baby while Gwen is out of town to attend a royal counsel meeting. Fluff, friendship, good ol' Merthur. Please read and review!


"Merlin?" Arthur asked frantically, pushing the door to his chambers open, "Have you seen the- _oh._ "

Merlin smiled begrudgingly as a dripping wet toddler cooed with satisfaction as she climbed up his lanky arms and used his mouth as a foothold to set herself atop his bony shoulders. "Found her…" Merlin mumbled, smiling as the baby clutched his ears in each hand.

"Rosie, you little munchkin!" Arthur chastised softly, rushing in to collect the drenched nine-month old princess off of Merlin. "Your mother will have me executed if you keep running off like that!" He scolded sweetly, kissing her forehead and walking over to the changing table.

"No, she wouldn't," Merlin answered, quickly grabbing a towel and a set of dry clothes as Arthur peeled the wet dress over his daughter's tiny body.

"Um. Yes. She would," Arthur remarked snarkily, hanging the soaked clothes over Merlin's face and taking the fresh ones from his hands. "Gwen expects the kingdom to be running just fine while she is out of town, meeting with the Tribe of Elders in Dowany-"

Merlin snickered as he threw the clothes on his face into the corner of the room to prepare a bottle for the child. "And you're saying you can't run a kingdom 'just fine' without her?"

"Woah, woah-" Arthur protested, quickly scooping up a pint-sized shirtless baby off the edge of the dressing table, where she was certainly looking for a fall. He scowled back at Merlin, one arm wrapped protectively over the child. He stifled a wince as she sank her premature teeth into his forearm. "I can't run a kingdom while devoting my full attention to my child, who happens to be heiress and crown princess. A little help please?"

In a few moments, Rose was babbling peacefully as she crawled around her parents' bedroom, shaking the toys that were cluttered across the floor and laughing when Arthur picked her up and tried to put a bottle to her small, rosy lips.

"As much as I used to wish that Gwen would let us have maids looking after her," Arthur began, gently stroking a hand through his daughter's curly brown locks as he held her in the crook of his arm, "I'm very relieved we don't."

Holding the small child, he moved over and sat on the edge of his bed. Merlin handed him the baby bottle, before going to clean up the mess of toys the tiny princess had left behind.

"Even if that means you need to wake up in the middle of the night to chase after a child who knows how to escape her crib and wind up in the kitchen sink without a single peep?" Merlin reminded cautiously, with the tiniest smile, "And if you impulsively decided to send all your knights and castle staff off with Gwen to ensure her safety and comfort?"

Arthur sighed, as Rose's eyes were beginning to drift into sleep, and she wrapped her chubby hand around his finger. "Yes, Merlin. It's been worth every sleepless second. I couldn't have Gwen worrying."

Arthur leaned back against the headboard of his bed, the shadows under his eyes noticeable from far away. The child in his arms was breathing slowly now, safely sleeping and cuddled up in her father's arms.

They both knew she would wake up instantly if Arthur put her down.

Kids were like that.

Even royal ones.

"So you thought sending every soul in the castle off with her would make her _not_ worry?" Merlin asked, with the slightest sarcastic lilt to his voice.

Arthur's tired eyes looked back at him with the subtle glint of an exhausted glare. "Merlin. One baby testing my patience is enough."

Merlin smirked, as he collected the wet baby clothes off the floor. "I'll have these cleaned and dried by tomorrow morning. Will you need any other help, Sire?"

But when Merlin turned back, Arthur was snoring softly, still leaning against the headboard as he'd been moments earlier, holding his daughter.

Merlin silently walked over and took the bottle from Arthur's frozen hand and set it on the bedside table, and delicately placed a pacifier into the princess's mouth. He pulled the blanket over Arthur's legs, blew out the candle, and quietly left.

The small heiress took on after her mother in looks, with a healthy light tan to her skin and beautiful ringlets of curls, and after her father in spirit, and eye color.

She was born nine months after the war against Morgana had been won, and Merlin already had experienced innumerable moments where the baby was shrieking at him in anger, throwing things at his head, hitting her tiny hands on his face and just being a royal pain in the arse, not unlike her father.

Then again. She was small and still indefinitely young. She would grow older, strong, brave, beautiful, noble. She would fulfill her parents' legacies, and when the time would be right, she'd take the kingdom after them and be crowned queen.

Magic was still outlawed in Camelot, though.

Merlin never found the chance to tell Arthur after their victory against Mordred and Morgana, and this bothered him greatly.

The only thing that bothered him more was when he once entered the child's nursery during her infant days. He'd froze where he was when he found the baby's bright blue eyes turned warm gold, murmuring softly as her stuffed toys spun over her head, like a mobile.

She'd dropped the things when Merlin picked her up to feed her, and laughed innocently when he smiled sadly at her.

Merlin was now burdened with two secrets instead of one.

He was a sorcerer. The most powerful one in history.

And while Arthur may have been born through magic, neither he nor Gwen knew that their daughter had been born with it.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **I would really appreciate it if you'd leave me a review! Let me know if you want me to flesh this out into a multi-chapter fic?**

 **Thanks again,**

 **DBV**


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